Not every game in the NCAA Tournament is going to be as appealing as others. Sometimes the mid-major involved is one that has such little fanfare, that the only thing that could make them interesting is their opponent. So, while the Albany Great Danes are not the world’s most interesting basketball team, the Duke Blue Devils are polarizing enough to carry the interest for the game. Their game will the first tip of a day chalk full of excitement and possible upsets.

What to Watch For

It will be interesting to see if Duke treats this as more of a prep type of game or if they will need to go all out and put away the Great Danes early. The Blue Devils are still trying to get Ryan Kelly fully re-acclimated with the team and might use this game to make sure things are clicking before tougher competition ahead of them. It will be a tough balancing act of playing to win and playing to win while adjusting the team’s strategy.

Albany is playing with nothing to lose. Nobody expects the Great Danes to be able to compete, less yet win. If they can come out of the gates playing fearless and together maybe the Great Danes can pull one of the biggest upsets in the tournament.